Abstract: OBJECTIVE To establish an efficient separation process to afford gardenia yellow and crocins with high color value. METHODS The process was conducted using reversed-phase medium pressure liquid chromatography. A high pressure liquid chromatography - photodiode array method was applied for qualitative and quantitative analysis of crocin-1. Moreover, the color value was also evaluated by UV method. RESULTS After the reversed-phase separation, the content of crocin-1 in refined product reached 60.8%, with the color value to be 756. Crocin-1(1), crocin-2(2) and crocin-3(3) could be separated either with similar procedure. CONCLUSION The process developed is highly efficient, low-cost and compact, which affords a potential approach for industrial production of crocins with improved quality.